Bally's & the YMCA

I have actually worked out at Bally's a couple of times now since I re-upped my membership. Can you believe it!? I should've gone today, but I was running errands with my Mom and then had some reading to do for school. Will definitely go tomorrow! I actually like going. It makes me feel good.
So, I mentioned once before that I won a three month family membership for the local Y. I had J talked into joining with me. It took three weeks, but I finally got him to go with me and sign up. Woo-hoo! We're official members of the YMCA now! The next trick will be actually getting him over there. I'm excited! They have three swimming pools! I'm an okay swimmer, but J used to swim competatively so that'd be a great workout for him. And! They have raquetball courts. I'd love to play again! And J says he has a raquet too! I'm going to dig mine out this week and hopefully I can get him to play with me next weekend. Hell, if I can get him to go at all that'll be a major improvement. I wish he were a morning person. I'd drag my weary ass out of bed every morning if I could get him in the gym before work. We talked about it after we signed up and he knows that it would pump him up for the day, but he's by no means a morning person and reminded me of that. Sigh. I'll come up with something. I just want him to get healthy. It would make him feel so much better. Baby steps! We've gotten this far and it's definitely further than I thought we'd've gotten by now. We're definitely on the right track.

Three weeks of dieting... ugh...

So, on April 4th J and I weighed in after a week of dieting. He lost 12 pounds! As a matter of fact... so did I! Awesome day! I was definitely more excited for him than I was for me, but wont deny that I thought I'd done pretty damn good myself. So, we continue doing what we're doing and after two more weeks we weigh again. This past Saturday, April 18th, we headed over to our friend Barry's house to do the official weigh in. I'm pretty sure before we get there that I've gained some weight back. No particular reason aside from the fact that I'm a bit lazy. So, we get there and I have indeed put 4 pounds back on. Oh well. Not the end of the world. I need to keep the other folks in this little competition guessing, right? :) So, J gets on the scale and he's lost another 12 pounds! He's my hero! That's 24 pounds in three weeks! I can't even begin to explain how proud I am of him! He's doing phenominal and he's not complained once since we started. Imagine how much he could possibly lose if he was exercising! We're joining the YMCA this coming weekend. I won a three month family membership so he's getting sucked in with me. I was looking at their web site a couple of days ago and they have a lot to offer. I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully once we start going he'll actually want to go. Who am I kidding? I need him to drag me over there the first time. I'm such a damn chicken shit! Once I get over there at least once (maybe twice) I'll be much more comfortable with the idea of going alone. We'll see what happens. Hopefully it'll be another healthy change for both of us.

Sleep... or the lack there of

I'm not sure what my problem is, but I can't get myself to go to sleep at a normal hour. I used to, but ever since I got laid off (six and a half months ago) I can't. I would love to be back on a normal schedule, but it seems as though when everyone else is going to bed, I'm just geting my second wind. It's starting to drive me insane. Well, maybe not insane, but a little batty. I never thought I would say that I actually miss getting up at 4:30am for work. Hell, who am I kidding? I miss work! A crazy thought when you actually have gainful employment. I don't even know where I'm going with this. It's two minutes to two in the morning. I wanted to go to bed an hour ago, but there's always just one more thing I want to look at online or I just absolutely have to check my e-mail one more time. Who am I kidding!? No one is up sending me e-mails in the middle of the night and nothing I want to look at online can't wait until tomorrow! This blog is a perfect example actually. I didn't have to write this. I could've just gone to bed. Maybe I'll try that now. Maybe...

I got on a scale

Well, a friend of ours decided that a bunch of us should get together and do our own biggest loser. Each of us are going to put in $50 and after three months the person who has lost the highest percentage of weight will win the pot. Most of us weighed in this past weekend. I think there are supposed to be ten of us. $500 in the end would be nice. Although, losing some much needed weight would be nice too. However, since I'm still out of work after six months, I could use the money in a major way! Anyway, my brother, Bubba and I went and weighed in Sunday afternoon and it's official... I'm fat! Holy hell! How did this happen!? Ten years and one week ago I weighed 300+ lbs. I can't give an exact number because I honestly don't know what it was. The most I was ever weighed at was 292 lbs, but I know I gained at least eight pounds after I got on the scale that day. Nine years ago today I weighed approximately 150 lbs. I shit you not! I looked hot! It was probably five years ago (if that) that I was down to 125 lbs. Didn't look hot (although at the time I thought I did)... looked sick (and I have pics to prove it)! LOL So, I would guess that last year at this time I was probably 175-180. Not ideal, but not the end of the world. Hell, at that weight I was still wearing a size 12 so the sky was not on the verge of falling. So, on Sunday, my fat ass weighed in at 201.5 lbs. Are you fucking kidding me!? I'm over 200 lbs!? This is what being out of work does to a carpenter. Well, a lazy carpenter at least! Shit! So, it's a good thing we're doing this biggest loser thing because my size 14's are starting to get a bit snug... oh and they're warn out and falling apart too. So, I need to lose weight so I can get into jeans that aren't falling apart. Not to mention that I'd really like to be healthier and back at my fighting weight. I'm aiming for 160. If I can go a little under that... awesome! If I'm 165 that's okay too, but not more than that! I've worked too hard to get healthy to let myself get fat again! So, I've already started the South Beach Diet and I re-upped with Bally's yesterday. My goal is to hit the gym a least three times a week (I'm aiming for more than that to be honest). I'll make an effort at posting milestones, etc. No guarantees as I'm totally lazy! Oh, and the pic above is me taken within the last week. Looking like ASS! Rolls everywhere and what's with the freakin' bandana!?

RIP Tony

So yesterday I was on my way into school and was mindlessly checking my e-mail on my cell phone. I received an e-mail from one of the guys I used to work with that informed me that another coworker of ours died. What a shock to the system! He was a super nice guy. I know not everyone got along with him, but I did. We actually worked pretty closely for a number of months before he was transfered to another job site. I'm not even sure why I'm rambling about it here. I think that because of all the phone calls and e-mails that have transpired in the last 30+ hours it's just weighing heavily on my mind. I feel really bad for his Dad (he found him). The whole situation just sucks. That is all. K Thx Bai.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!)

So, as I was sitting in my first class of the evening and thinking about how today kind of sucked I wrote this... with every intention of putting it right here. So, here it is...

I am in such a pissy mood! I'm irritated with J and I'm annoyed with my mother. Oooh-Oooh! And I have something stuck in my thumb. It's been sore for days like the skin was cracked, but there was no crack. I just found the spot where there's something under the skin. I'm thinking it's metal. Joy! Will have to cut it open and dig it out. Anyway, I'm stuck in class tonight. Though, even if I didn't have class, I'd still be doing nothing - at least I don't think I would be doing anything.
I'm pissy because my lips are chapped. That is so annoying! What else? I'm pissy because I still don't have a silver claddagh to replace the one I lost two weeks ago. That really annoys me and makes me mad. (It really, really does. Probably shouldn't, but it does!)
I left my cell in my truck. Guess I don't need it while I'm in class, but I still wish I had it. Not pissy about it, but wish I had it nonetheless.
I'll try not to be pissy tomorrow.

That's where it ended. Suffice it to say, the phone was not in my truck. The phone is gone. Now I'm a wee bit pissy about the lost phone thing. Will work on getting it replaced in the morning. Here's the one bright spot of my pissy day. I called my brother to tell him about my phone and ended up meeting up with him for a corned beef and cabbage dinner at an Irish pub (a poor excuse for an Irish pub, but a pub nonetheless). After a pint of Guiness and dinner we went to another Irish pub. This one was more Irish, but they weren't playing Irish music. Hello!? People! It's St. Patrick's Day for crying out loud! Play Irish music in the Irish pubs! What's the matter with folks?! Anyway, had a nice time hanging out with my big brother. So the day wasn't complete crap. :)
I'll still try not to be pissy tomorrow.

May those that love us, love us.
And those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we’ll know them by their limping.

Am I an ass?

About a week and a half ago I was making meatloaf. I took off my claddagh (Irish) ring and put it in my sweatshirt pocket. The next morning when I put my sweatshirt on again the ring was gone. Double Damn! So, after I got home from welding all day I searched high and low for it. No ring, but at least the kitchen was clean and shiney. I then proceeded to search the rest of the house. To no avail. So, after pouting a bit and wondering what to do, I decided to go buy myself a new one. Now, the problem with this is that you're not supposed to buy your own claddagh ring. Apparently, you're also not supposed to ask for one either. My boyfriend, who is not Irish, says to me, "You can't buy your own!" To which I reply something to the affect of, "I know, but I need a new one." He offers to buy me one and I say thanks, but no thanks. I didn't want him to feel obligated to get it for me. So, later I appologize for being a snot and tell him it was a really nice offer, but he doesn't have to do that. He says he wants to. Okay. Guess I should just say thank you and take him up on the offer. That was last Sunday. He said he probably wouldn't have time to go to the store I wanted to get it from during the week and I said that was fine. We could go next weekend (now this weekend). Well, it's about twenty minutes to four and the store closes at five. I'm guessing we're not going again this weekend and I'm sure he wont have time to go during the week once again. Am I pissed? Yep! Does that make me an ass? I have no idea. And quite honestly, I don't care right at the moment. I'm just pissed. I want a new ring! I haven't been without a claddagh ring on my finger since I was probably 13 or 14 years old. That's 20 years! My finger doesn't know what to do! So, now I'm debating just going to the store today before they close and buying my own damn claddagh ring and being done with it. Will that make him feel like an ass. Unlikely. Would more likely go unnoticed unless I pointed it out to him. Would be even more likely that if I didn't keep bringing up going to the store that he would forget he ever made the offer. Damn I'm pissed! Was hoping this blog would get it off my shoulders and make me feel better. Didn't work... still pissed!